Sorrowful Parting
by Kyarorain
Summary: Post FE7. Raven came too late on the day that Araphen was embroiled in war. Too late to save the one he loved. RavenLucius.


**Sorrowful Parting**

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**Game: **Post-Fire Emblem 7: Rekka no Ken. Involves event in Fire Emblem 6: Fuuin no Tsurugi  
**Pairing:** Raven/Lucius  
**Warnings: **Death, Fuuin spoilers, mentions of shonen-ai love (But honestly, there's no kissing or anything. You won't be scarred for life.)

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Araphen is fast becoming stained with blood. The troops of Bern are surging through the city, screaming for blood. People fall underneath thudding hooves, as spears and swords swing through the air. Arrows fly from the trees and glance off the shining armour of the fearless Wyvern knights.

The Araphen Orphanage is home to many children who have lost their parents for whatever reason and normally they are safe and sound here, cared for by the bishop Lucius. However, the troops are not overlooking the orphanage in their mission to crush the city and take it under their control.

"Hurry!" Lucius orders, gesturing with an arm towards a forest near the orphanage. "Take cover in the trees while I hold off the troops!" He holds a Shine tome securely under his other arm, prepared to use it at any given moment. The children do as he orders. Lucius turns and runs back towards the front of the building, the sound of running horses coming even closer.

A stray arrow zips past Lucius's head, severing a strand of his soft, golden hair. It falls to the ground and coils upon the emerald turf. Lucius's sapphire gaze zips towards a tree where a Bern soldier has hidden himself. He wastes no time in lifting the tome and chanting, directing a powerful Shine spell towards the archer.

The troop of Bern soldiers, who are storming the orphanage, see the bright flash of light and some of them come running towards Lucius, who realises he has made a mistake in revealing his location straight away. However, if the children can be kept safe, it doesn't matter whether he's going to get out of this alive or not. They have their entire lives ahead of them and he has already lived most of his.

Lucius fires several Shine spells in quick succession, ignoring the sword blows and spears that glance off him. He dodges deadly sword strokes with an elegant grace, spurred on by adrenalin. It has been years since he has had to fight like this. In fact, it has been twenty years, but memory has not failed him and he still remembers how.

Bern soldiers are lying around him, some of them twitching or groaning, but despite the number that has been felled, there are even more coming and they are going to engulf Lucius. He knows his loss is inevitable and he will die here today. It is simply a matter of how he goes down, and even as a peaceful bishop serving Elimine, he wishes to go down fighting in his last battle. It's what Lord Raymond would do... wherever he is now.

Lucius holds up the worn tome and musters up all his strength into firing one last Shine spell at a stampeding General. The radiant light sends the General flying back into a tree and he slumps down in a heap of singed armour, knocked unconscious by the powerful Light spell. Lucius gasps in exertion and his eyes widen as a hairline crack runs down the spine of the magic tome. The crack widens and pages flutter out of the book as it simply disintegrates in his hand. He lets it fall to the ground and it breaks down into dust, disappearing forever into the soil.

Lucius is now unarmed. He hesitantly looks up into a pair of darkly glinting eyes. This soldier shows no mercy. He aims his bow and arrow, smiling with malice. But even as he readies the shot that will strike Lucius down, Lucius mentally prays to Elimine that these soldiers can be saved from evil. It is part of his nature, to hope that they turn back from the path of darkness before it is too late.

The archer releases the string with a swift motion. The arrow sails through the air, screeching towards Lucius's heart. The head buries itself in the white robes and plows on through the cotton fabric, the soft flesh and finally the precious organ. Crimson blood explodes from the new wound and surges over Lucius's robes, falling to the ground where it forms a thick, dark puddle.

Lucius falls to his knees and gasps for breath, copper blood pooling up in his mouth. He coughs and spits it up, grasping feebly at the stained grass beneath him with his shaking hands. He hears the drumming sound of feet coming towards him, but does not have the energy to look up. It is probably another soldier rushing in to finish him off, as if he could survive a blow like this.

A yell splits the air and Lucius is energised by the familiar sound. He musters up his strength to look up and his face shines like a beacon. The soldier falls, his body almost cloven in half by the power of the sword. The red-haired Hero charges through the small group of Bern soldiers gathered around Lucius. They are swiftly felled.

"Lord Raymond," Lucius whispers, smiling up at the shocked Hero. Raven puts his sword down and kneels in front of Lucius, trembling with horror. "You came."

"Lucius, you idiot," Raven lets out a gasp as Lucius falls sideways and catches him, propping him up with an arm and looking into his eyes. "Why couldn't you have held on just a little longer?"

"At least... the children are... safe," Lucius's voice is growing quieter. Raven can barely hear it. His complexion is whiter than a sheet and his eyelids are drooping even more.

"I should have come sooner," Raven's entire body shakes like a leaf. "I should have... if only I'd known. Damn it... I could have saved you. You didn't deserve this, Lucius. Why..."

"Lord... Raymond..." Lucius murmurs. "Don't blame yourself..." A hand touches his cheek. It feels so hot, and he realises that he is cold, so cold. He has not felt like this since he got hit by that genderless morph's Fimbulvetr spell. Its name escapes him right now. Water drips onto his face, staining the pale skin. "Don't cry for me..."

"I'm not crying," Raven says fiercely. "For Elimine's sake, Lucius! You should have held on for me! You should have waited... we should have fought together like we used to... I loved you... I... Lucius?"

Lucius is staring dead ahead, his eyes glazed over, and he is still. Raven reaches to pull down his eyelids and then he gently lays the bishop down, reaching for the sword and unsteadily getting to his feet.

"What would you want me to do, Lucius?" Raven laughs bitterly as he murmurs under his breath, watching the soldiers advance towards him. "I know what you would say. Revenge is a terrible thing to dwell on, it is better to forgive. But how can I forgive the soldiers who broke my heart? I forgave Ostia in the end, but this..."

Throwing a last glance back at the body of the fallen bishop, Raven plunges forth into a bloodthirsty battle that he probably won't get out of alive, spurred on by Lucius's kind face fixed forever in his mind. Even if his sword breaks and the Bern soldiers strike him down, he will be thinking of Lucius and of being with him again.


End file.
